Point is, Johnson is anything but shy on confidence at the moment, and decided to speak his mind about his upcoming opponent at length during a recent interview with BloodyElbow.

Though he was quick to give his undefeated opponent his due respect, Johnson believes that his vast superiority on the feet and incredibly high takedown percentage (81% according to Fight Metric, good for fourth among active lightweights) will be enough to earn him the victory over Nurmagomedov.

As you might expect, Johnson did not speak too highly of his opponent's recent outbursts, even if he understands the potential merit in them.

I think that’s a pretty dangerous game to play with the UFC. But at the same time, you never know. Guys try things out and see what kind of reaction it gets. If that’s the way he feels, that’s the way he feels. You can’t knock a man for saying what he truly means, so at least he’s man enough to do that.

Johnson makes a good point here, and one that Conor McGregor has been proving since essentially the day he stepped foot in the UFC (as he recently laid it out, "Everyone in this game does what they're f-cking told except for me and rightly f-cking so."). Though Nurmagomedov may not be as charismatic a figure as McGregor, he is an undefeated, incredibly talented fighter who could serve as a bridge into a new market in the same way that #MichaelBisping did for England or #GeorgesStPierre did for Canada.

That said, I don't think the smartest way of going about that would be through blatant hostility and threats against management, but I've landed like 6 takedowns in my life total.